


Roots

by lemonsorbae



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 15:26:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonsorbae/pseuds/lemonsorbae





	Roots

Castiel has seen leaves like this before, all brown and yellow and crunchy, separated from the tree they flourished on. He remembers them from so many years ago, scattered throughout Lisa Braedon’s yard like a leaf graveyard, and recalls watching, unseen, as Dean raked them into large piles to keep the yard looking tidy and to prevent the grass from drying out.

Things were so different then, all those years ago. At that time Castiel needed Dean; needed his help and his guidance, his friendship and gruffly muttered words of encouragement. He needed a hand on his shoulder and a reminder that Castiel was strong enough,  _brave_  enough, to do the right thing. But he had been too afraid to ask; too afraid of interrupting Dean’s desperately craved apple pie life to reach out.

So much has happened since then.   
They’ve come so far.

The yard Dean rakes the leaves in now is one Castiel shares with him. The leaves look the same, withered and dead, ready to be mixed into the earth again, but the feeling of watching Dean rake them is different. The solemnity of the act is gone and has been replaced with a fondness that, back then, Castiel ached to understand.

He still needs Dean now just as much as he did before, but instead of standing idly by and watching, Cas has but to reach out and touch, to roll over in the bed they share and  _ask_ whenever he loses his way. Now Dean is the steadying hand at Castiel’s back, his cheer in the mornings over coffee and grocery lists and their apple pie life actually comes accompanied by apple pie.

Now Castiel knows exactly what it feels like to be needed in return and to hear the words not only begged and forced from bleeding lips, but also whispered quietly into the night atop cooling sheets and in between languid kisses. Now Castiel understands ‘ _I need you_ ' carries as much weight as ' _I love you_ ' and that while the leaves of trees may fall and scatter, the tree they started out on with its roots planted deeply in the ground, will always,  _always_ remain. 


End file.
